Avengers: Infinity War (2018) Review

Hollywood has been indulged in the super hero film renaissance for years and Avengers: Infinity War marks the new climax of this brilliant era in cinema. Marvel Studios has been painting a masterpiece of comic book live action film and TV ever since Iron Man (2008) and it is remarkable to see where we have come a decade later. This third installment of the Avengers saga is a jaw dropping, action packed, emotional ride that left me speechless. There is so much to talk about, so unlike my usual reviews, the following post will be spoiler filled. If you have not seen this film yet, proceed with caution.

Rating: 9.0/10

Important Cast

Directors: Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

Josh Brolin = Thanos

Robert Downey Jr. = Tony Stark / Iron Man

Chris Hemsworth = Thor

Benedict Cumberbatch = Doctor Strange

Mark Ruffalo = Bruce Banner / Hulk

Chris Pratt = Peter Quill / Star-Lord

Zoe Saldana = Gamora

Chris Evans = Steve Rodgers / Captain America

Chadwick Boseman = T’Challa / Black Panther

Tom Holland = Peter Parker / Spider-Man

Paul Bettany = Vision

Elizabeth Olson = Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch

Dave Bautista = Drax

Bradley Cooper = Rocket Raccoon

Winston Duke = M’Baku

Avengers: Infinity War is less of a film, and more of a collection of remarkable moments that have been set in motion through 10 years of films. With over 60 characters assembled into two and a half hours, it is astonishing that there is still a coherent and linear storyline. At its core, this film is a revenge story for Thor, along with a character exploration of Thanos, with a delightful mixture of special moments and necessary action set pieces sprinkled in.

Likes:

Every time a hero made their appearance my heart skipped a beat. From Spider-Man springing into action, to Star-Lord and the gang singing The Rubberband Man, and Captain America catching a spear from the shadows. Wakanda’s introduction embarrassingly caused me to cheer aloud. It seemed like every meaningful character had a special sweet moment in the spotlight. The story did a great job of weaving every plot together to make each appearance necessary, instead of a fan-serving cameo.

The Guardians of the Galaxy & Thor stole the show. When the “Pirate Angel” washed up on the ship and started interacting with Peter Quill & the crew, I couldn’t contain myself. It makes perfect sense that Quill would be intimidated by Thor and his good looks.

I especially loved the scene when Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man crossed paths with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Everyone acts how I would expect them to, and it takes Peter Quill to make a reference about Jesus for them all to realize they are on the same side.

Peter Quill: “I’m going to ask you one time. Where is Gamora?”

Tony Stark: “I’ll do you one better. Who is Gamora?”

Drax: “I’ll do YOU one better! WHY is Gamora?”

The film was filled with brilliant one-liners and perfect character moments. It seems like they brought everything that we love about these characters front and center for all of us to enjoy.

Another scene that I wanted to call out was the pre-battle scene in Wakanda. I had goose bumps when M’Baku and the Wakandan army were chanting their war cry. We also might have witnessed the greatest “WAKANDA FOREVER!” when T’Challa chants before charging into battle. Also, watching Captain America and Black Panther sprint to the front lines as the head of the spear, was a heartwarming moment.

With that being said, I feel like Thanos deserves our attention.

Thanos is undoubtidbly my favorite villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind Erik Killmonger. I am so glad that the writers gave Thanos a strong arc and ideology instead of making him a stupid two-dimensional blockhead that wants to destroy the world.

His ideology is that the universe is imbalanced because there are too many people without enough resources to go around. In order to prevent destruction and balance the scale, Thanos believes he must kill half of the population. What makes him such a strong character is that he wholeheartedly believes his ideology. Thanos explains how his home planet was destroyed, thus creating his sense of belief about an imbalanced universe. Thanos even sacrifices the person he loves to acquire the “soul” stone and achieve his ultimate goal.

[Thanos snaps his fingers. He now stands before a young Gamora.]

Young Gamora: Did you do it?

Thanos: I did.

Young Gamora: What did it cost?

Thanos: Everything. [Thanos responds saddened]

Dislikes:

The movie felt very rushed to me and I wish it had taken its time building some more character arcs on Earth. I had a hard time buying Wanda and Vision’s romance, and in a couple days Thanos acquires all 6 infinity stones. The film was already long, but if they stretched the film another half hour, perhaps they could have had enough time to fine-tune some character beats.

Questions:

Why did Doctor Strange give up the “time” stone?

In the middle of the film, Doctor Strange uses the “time” stone to go in the future and see millions of possible outcomes of their upcoming battle with Thanos. After returning to present time, he tells Tony Stark that there is only 1 outcome where they win. The following scenes with Doctor Strange become incredibly important, because he knows what that one possible outcome is.

After Thanos kicks all of their butts, Doctor Strange willingly gives up the “time” stone, and in return, Thanos spares Tony Stark’s life. Earlier Doctor Strange told Tony Stark he would NEVER save someones’ life over protecting the “time” stone. Therefore, I believe Doctor Strange knew the only way they could win the war, is if he gives up the “time” stone and lose the battle. In order for the Avengers to eventually win against Thanos, they must lose this battle along with half of their heroes.

Did half of our heroes die?

After Thanos snaps his fingers we see some of our favorite heroes vanish like dust. Some of those heroes included fan favorites; Black Panther, Spider-Man, and The Guardians of the Galaxy. Needless to say, me and everyone in my theater were freaking out at this moment. When Spider-Man bit the dust, a single tear ran down my face.

As Iron Man clutched Spider-Man’s ashes in anguish like in the above photo, I realized something. Why the heck would Marvel kill off these iconic characters? Do I really expect Marvel Studios to never make another Black Panther, Spider-Man, or Guardians movie? You may rest assured because Marvel Studios already confirmed a sequel to all three of those films, so we will be seeing our heroes again.

The original core group of Avengers are still alive, and my theory is that they will embark on a suicide rescue mission to save the people who vanished along with the rest of the universe. I don’t believe the “time” stone will be used in Avengers 4 to revert time and undo everything Thanos did. That would be too much of a cop-out. Instead I believe we will see something different and these vanished heroes will be much different when they return.

However, there are some fan favorite characters who died in the film that I believe will not be resurrected. It seems like Loki, Gamora, and Vision are gone for good and we will not see them again.

In the post credit scene, Nick Fury sends a signal out to Captain Marvel on this outdated beeper looking device before he vanishes. We have yet to be introduced to her, but I believe Captain Marvel will play the biggest role in the untitled Avengers 4 sequel. The President of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, has recently said that Captain Marvel is the most powerful being in the universe. Her role will become more clear when we are properly introduced to her in 2019, with the release of her standalone film.

Overall:

Avengers: Infinity War blew me away and I recommend this film to anyone who follows the Marvel films. This is going to be a long year of new fan theories and speculation about the ending of this film. We have entered uncharted territory with Thanos beating the Avengers, and I’m excited to see what happens next.